I will always love you
by GallifreyanDemigoddess
Summary: River Black never felt whole in her life. Everything seemed too made up, always being the same. Then Henry finds a book, and his birth mother came to town...and things start to change. River meets a mysterious but handsome man with a lots of hats, and the attraction is instantaneous. Could he help her remember who she really is?
1. Chapter 1

_Rosalie was unsure of what she was doing there. She hadn't talked to her father in months, she had been more busy since...since her husband disappeared, leaving her alone with their daughter. _

_Rumplestilskin smiled at the sight of her daughter. _

_"Well, well, well, look who decided to visit me" _

_"Papa..." sighed the girl, running to his cell. _

_He looked at her. "What are you doing here, Rose? if the guards see you..." _

_"I know, I just..." she was at the verge of tears, noticed Rumplestilskin. _

_He reached for her hand, and caressed her slowly. _

_"I miss you" she admitted. _

_He didn't react, he nearly never did. _

_"I missed you too" he said at least, "How's Grace?" _

_Rosalie smiled sadly, "Great, she misses you too" _

_"I would ask you about your husband, but I heard what happened...pity" _

_Rosalie closed her eyes, "Don't, please, don't say anything" _

_He didn't say more. "Why are you really here, Rose?" _

_"The Curse" she said, "Is it true, Papa? Is there a Curse coming?" _

_He nodded, smirking widely. "Oh, yes, dearie, there's a Curse coming. A Curse, oh, so powerful..." _

_Rosalie looked at him, and he changed his expression. Many people thought the Dark One didn't have emotions or only cared about himself. But it wasn't true. He cared about his daughter. More than anything in the world. _

_"Don't over think it" he told her making a pompous movement with his hand, "You'll be ok" _

_"Will I?" asked Rosalie in a broken manner. _

* * *

When I woke up, I realised I was late for work...Again.

I really didn't understand how Archie hadn't fired me already, because, who would want someone who's really late everyday? But I guess he was too nice to do so.

So, I jumped out of bed, got dressed and ran to Archie's office.

On my way there, I ran into Mr. Gold, knocking his cane out of his hand and nearly loosing my balance.

He looked ready to snap at whoever bumped into him, but when he saw it was just me, he smiled at me, and I quickly retrieved his cane and gave it to him.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Gold! I wasn't looking where I was going" I said a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Ms. Black" he told me nodding, "Accidents happen"

"Are you ok, though?" I asked him worriedly.

He nodded, and then he gave me a look, "Late for work, I presume"

My eyes widened when I remembered why I had been in such a rush before. "Shit!" I started to run again, calling over my shoulder, "Sorry again, Mr. Gold! Have a good day!"

I didn't noticed the sad look he gave me when I turned my back on him.

Finally, I arrived at Archie's office.

I quickly sat in my chair and checked if there was any missed calls or anything like that. Lucky for me, there weren't.

I checked the computer, and realised today's only visit was Henry Mills. So, today would be a quiet and calm morning.

I made some coffee for Archie, and knocked on his door while opening it. Archie was writing something down, but smiled at the sight of me and the coffee.

"Good Morning, River" he told me.

"Sorry I'm late again, good morning" I said handing him his coffee.

I had said those same words for the last couples of years I had worked for him, and he always shrugged my apologise off.

My life had always been the same. Mornings and afternoons work with Archie, dinner at Granny's everyday, then head home. Everyday, same routine. Little things only changed, like, sometimes I would babysat Henry Mills or Paige Grace, and I would go out with Ruby some nights, but that was it.

There was a knock on the door, and I stood and opened it.

It was Henry, he smiled when he saw me, "Good morning, River!"

"Hi, Henry" I grinned at him, "Come on in, Archie is waiting for you"

The next couple of hours I did my work. Changed some of Archie's dates for sessions, answered calls, did some paperwork...The usual. I had been offered jobs in other places, like in Mr. Gold's pawnshop, and in Granny's, but I always rejected them. I liked to job here, with Archie. It was comforting, and quite easy. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wished to change my life...maybe working somewhere else or something like that...But I never did.

My thoughts were interrupted by Henry's voice.

"River?"

I turned around and smiled at him, "Hello Henry, how was today's session?"

"Good" he grinned at me.

I smiled at him. I really didn't understood why his mother made him saw Archie. He was a clever little boy. His obsession with that FairyTales book was something that will go away, I was sure of it. Kids got obsessed over things often. Internet, sports, tv shows...at least Henry's obsession wasnt so bad, it was sort of funny and cute.

"Are you coming home tonight?" he asked me.

I nodded, "If your mother still needs me to take care of you for a couple of hours, then yes"

He grinned at me and I grinned back. "Good, I want to show you something"

So, when Regina left, I left my things in the living room of the Mills house and climbed the stairs toward Henry's room.

I knocked on the door, and a few seconds later Henry opened it. He looked agitated, like he had just run or something like that, which made me raise and eyebrow. He gave me an innocent look.

"Hi"

"Hey, Henry" I said smiling a bit, "Your mom just left...—"

"Perfect!" his grin widened and he moved to let me enter his room.

The first thing I noticed was the credit card laying at the side of his half closed laptop. It was the first thing I noticed, because I was sure Regina would never let him buy something online, so I was curious.

Henry noticed my look, but didn't elaborate, instead, he showed me a big book, and my eyes widened a bit.

Was that...?

"So, River, I think I can deduce who you are, sort of, but I'm gonna new your help"

Yep, it was definitely the book.

I didn't know how to react, so I just feigned ignorance, "Well, I hope you do, 'cause I had been babysitting you since you were, like, five"

Henry shook his head, "No, not here. I mean who you really are"

I sighed, but the look on Henry's face stopped me from saying anything that wasn't 'okay'.

So, I cleared my throat, "Uh, can I...see it?" I pointed to the book, and Henry gave it to me excitedly.

I smiled at him before flipping softly the pages. Henry watched me while I read a couple of pages. I sort of smiles when I noticed something.

"This aren't the usual Fairy Tales! I like it" I said smiling.

Henry grinned at me, and I looked at him, "Who gave it to you?"

"Ms. Blanchard, my teacher" he told me.

I nodded, I've met her. She was sweet.

An awkward silence followed after a couple of minutes, and Henry kept glancing at the laptop and at the book in my hands.

"So, Henry" I said, trying to break the silence, "Why don't you tell me about the book and...—" what was the other thing he had said?...oh, yes, a curse. "—The Curse"

Henry snapped out of whatever he was thinking, and started to tell me about The Curse eagerly. When he finished I was eying him carefully.

"Let me get this straight, The Evil Queen send a bunch of Fairy Tale characters here on Storybrook. All because she wanted to have a happy ending" I said.

He nodded, "Yes, and they don't remember anything about their real identities"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "But that must have been hard, to wipe a memory."

Henry answered me by asking me a question, "Do you remember anything from before Storybrook?"

"Yea—" I stopped myself, frowning slightly, "Well, not really, but I got an excuse, I'm old."

Henry rolled my eyes, "You are not, you're like, what? Twenty-something?"

I nodded shrugging. "Twenty Six"

"See, you are not old and you don't remember. Believe me, nobody else does, I had asked around" he told me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Have you?" that must have been weird. Having been asked that.

"Yeah"

"Okay...but if we all are characters from your book, who is who?" I wanted to know who he thought we were, cause tags was going to be interesting,

He was grinning widely by now, probably happy that someone was listening to him and was interested in his theory about us, Storybrook citizens.

"Well, I'm still not sure about everybody's identity, but I know a few" he said.

"So, tell me" I smiled at him, happy to see him happy.

"Well, my mom is the Evil Queen—" I raised an eyebrow, but let him continue "—Archie is Jiminy Cricket" I snorted at that, imagining my boss and friend as a cricket, "Ms. Blanchard is Snow White. Ruby is Red Riding Hood"

At that I did interrupted him, chuckling, "Uh, I don't know, kid, Ruby's a badass"

"So is Red Riding Hood" he told me seriously, and I remembered that his book didn't had the proper fairy tales. "And I'm not really sure about the rest"

I nodded, taking it all in.

We were silent of a couple of minutes. Then, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, you said we are all under a curse" I said, receiving a nod and a smile when I said 'we', "So, why hadn't it broken yet? I mean, all curses can be broken."

"Yeah, well, becau—hang on, how do you know that?" he asked me, frowning at me in curiosity.

"What?" I asked confused.

"That all curses can be broken" he told me.

I blinked, and realised I didn't had an answer for that. It had just popped on my mouth.

"I—uh, I don't know" I said shrugging a bit.

Henry continued looking at me with curiosity, but answered my question.

"The Saviour isn't here" he said, "She...—"

"She?" I asked smiling, loving the idea of a female hero.

"—She's my mother"

I raised my eyebrows, "But I thought your mom was the Evil Queen" I said confused.

"I don't mean Regina" he told me, leaving me confused.

"Then who—"

"My real mom" told me Henry.

"Oh"

I never knew he thought about his birth mother.

"Look, her real name is Emma, and she is Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter—" he kept on talking, but I wasn't listening, I was busy looking at him with sad eyes.

I knew life with Regina Mills was probably hard, she being the mayor and having responsibilities and all that, but it was really sad that he was putting her—the woman that raised him, as an Evil Queen, and putting the woman who abandoned him as a Saviour.

I snapped out of my thoughts, when he called my name.

"You...you don't believe me?" he asked seeing my look.

"No, it's not that" I told him slowly, awkwardly moving my hands.

"So, you do believe me?" he smiled.

"Henry" I started seriously, "Your birth mother—"

"Emma" he told me.

"Yes, her—hang on, how do you know her name?" not even Regina knew it, I had asked her, and she had said the woman's reads were sealed.

Now Henry gave me another innocent look, but I didn't buy it, I had know him for years, and knew perfectly that look.

I groaned, "Henry, what did you do?"

"Nothing!" he told me.

I sighed, "Look, kid, I promise I won't tell your mom a word of it, but I need to know if I had to call a lawyer or..." I half joked, hoping that he'll trust me.

"It's a site online" he told me, and I felt relieved.

"Oh, ok, but hey, I have to tell you, these sites suck" I said half chuckling while he gave me his laptop for me to take a look.

My eyes widened a bit. "Kid, these page is expensive! How did you pay for it?"

Now he looked guilty, and I groaned again.

"Henry...that's not your mom's credit card, is it?"

He shook his head and I sighed. "Stealing is wrong, Henry, I have told you before, you shouldn't have done it."

"I didn't steal it!" he told me, "I borrowed it"

I snorted, "Yeah, right, tell that to the cops"

He rolled his eyes in my direction.

"Who is it, anyway?" I asked nodding to the credit card.

"My teachers"

"Mary Margaret's?" I asked, and he nodded. I sighed and took it, planning to return it to Mary Margaret as soon as I could.

He opened his mouth to say something, but in that moment the door opened and Regina popped his head in. I smiled politely and Henry closed his laptop really quickly.

She entered the room still smiling at Henry, and I stood from the bed.

"Hey mom" said Henry, "How was the meeting?"

"Boring as always" she said, and then turned to me, "I'm making dinner soon, are you joining us?"

I refused politely, as always.

So, I said goodbye, took my things and headed home. My apartment was pretty far from here, but I didn't mind walking. I enjoyed the night breeze and the silence of the night.

It helped me think.

* * *

_A couple of days after Rosalie's trip to her father's cell, the Curse was unleashed. _

_Rosalie ran to her daughter and hugged her. The earth was trembling and the black cloud was spreading even further now. _

_"Mama, what's happening?" Grace's voice sounded afraid, really afraid. _

_"The Curse" whispered Rosalie, but Grace still heard it. _

_She whimpered a bit afraid, and Rosalie hugged her tightly. _

_"Don't worry sweetheart" said Rosalie "Everything will be alright" _

_But she knew it wouldn't. Her father's curse could be anything, she really didn't know, the only thing she did know about it was that it would help them find Baelfire. That was all her father told her. _

_"Mama, I want Papa" cried Grace. _

_Rosalie's heart tightened, "I want him too, baby, I want him back too..."_

_Oh, Rosalie hated The Evil Queen so much. So, so much. For taking Jefferson away from them. For making Grace cry for his missing father. For leaving her without her true love. For casting the curse. She hated her so so much..._

_Then the curse hit them. _

_"Mama!" Grace screamed. _

_"Grace!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A couple of days after discovering that Henry was searching for his birth mother online, Regina called me. She told me about Henry's little trip last night to Boston, and that he came back with his birth mother. And now, apparently, he was missing, again. She asked me to search for him.

I didn't even struggled to find him. He was exactly where I imagined he would be. At his Castle. A playground we both discovered a couple of years back, and when he got mad at Regina, or wanted to be alone, he would go there.

I parked my car and got out of it slowly. I was at a good distance from the Castle, but I still could see him, and he wasn't alone. A blonde woman was sitting at his side, and they were talking. I imagined she was his birth mother. And since I didn't wanted to interrupt them, I stayed by the car.

I waited, unsure of what to do next. I had found Henry, and he was ok. Regina told me to send him to her immediately, but...he was talking with Emma, his real mother, and...I seriously didn't want to interrupt them.

I wasn't eavesdropping...much.

I mean...I couldn't help it, their voiced raised a lot when Emma said she was taking him to Regina, and he begged her to stay a week here.

"You don't know what it's like with her." said Henry, and my heart broke as his voice sounded broken. "My life sucks"

"Oh, you want to know what sucking is? Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway" said Emma, and I just realised I really shouldn't be there. It was private. "My parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I ended up in the foster system and I had a family until I was 3, but then they had their own kid, so they send me back." she sighed, and moved some hair out of his eye, crunching to Henry's height. "Look...your mom is trying her best. I know it's hard, and I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you, but at least she wants you."

That was true. Regina wanted him, and she did really love him. I see it, she just...wasn't the best at expressing it. The fact she was a bitch didn't really helped either.

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway" told her Henry, "That's just where you came through."

I sighed, so he did tell her about the curse. Great. Another person who's gonna thought he's crazy. And the worst of it was that this time it wasn't just Archie or me or Regina. This time it was his real mother. And Henry would be devastated if she doesn't believe him, or at least feigned to do so. Like I did.

"What?" asked Emma confused.

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe, you appeared in the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the Curse"

"Sure they were" chuckled Emma sadly. Probably she thought that it was cute Henry was trying to made things seem good when they weren't. "Come on"

Just then, when Henry and Emma moved to go, they saw me.

"River!" Henry smiled widely when he saw me, and run toward me.

"Hey, Henry" I returned the smile while hugging him.

Emma walked slowly toward us.

"Hi" I said politely.

"She's my mom" whispered Henry to me.

"I know" I said, "Regina called me and asked me to take you home..."

"I'm taking him" said Emma.

There was an awkward moment in where we looked at each other. I cleared my thought and put on a polite smile.

"Hello" I said offering her my hand.

She took it, "I'm Emma, Emma Swan"

"River Black" I nodded to her, then I turned to Henry, and I gave him an encouraging smile. "You ok?"

He nodded. "You coming with us?" he asked.

I looked at Emma, "No. You go with her, I'll see you tomorrow. I want to know everything about your little trip to Boston"

I really did. Honestly, when Regina told me I got really worried. He could have been kidnaped or hurt. He should have asked me to go with him, I obviously would have said yes. He would have been safer, and I would have been less worried.

Henry frowned for a second, and gave me his book. I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"I don't want my mom finding it" he told me, "Can you hold on to it?"

I looked at him surprised. He was really protective of his book.

"You sure?" he nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow" he waved and he and Emma entered the yellow car that belonged to Emma.

As they left, I opened the book.

* * *

_Rosalie felt butterfly in her stomach. She was really, really nervous. _

_The words Dr. Frankenstein had told her were in his head every single minute as she waited for Jefferson to came "home". She felt a turmoil of emotions. Happiness. Nervousness. Surprise. And then happiness again. _

_But then...How was she going to tell Jefferson? _

_As Rosalie bit her lips and moved nervously in the room, Jefferson entered smirking and threw his hat into one of the chairs. He looked at Rosalie, and his smirk changed into a soft smile as he watched her pacing around and muttering something to herself. _

_"I'm home" he announced. _

_She didn't acknowledge his presence. She was too deep in thoughts to notice him. She only noticed his presence when he moved and wrapped his arms around her waist. _

_"I'm home" he repeated, kissing her neck. _

_She turned around and smiled, but she still looked weird into Jefferson's eyes. _

_"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly. _

_"I...uh, went to see Dr. Frankenstein, as I told you" she said. _

_"Oh" said Jefferson, "What did he say?" _

_She didn't answer, and he grew concerned. She had been a bit sick that week, so Jefferson had insisted that she visited a doctor. Victor Frankenstein had been the easier option. Well...the only option, really. There on the Land Without Colour there weren't many doctors. _

_"Rose, are you ok?" he asked, "What did he say?" _

_"Jefferson...I-I—" _

_"Rosalie. Breathe" he chuckled. _

_She took a deep breath, and talked. _

_"I'm pregnant" _

* * *

In my way home, Mrs. Grace called me. She said she got an emergency at work and they needed her urgently, so she asked me to take care of Paige. I looked at the clock, at this hour Paige would be about to get out of school.

I left my car parked in front of my apartment, and walked all the way to the bus stop. The bus still hadn't arrived, so I went to buy some ice cream for the both of us. In my way there I felt as if I was being watched, but every time I looked around, no one was looking at me.

It was weird, but I shrugged it off and walked back to the bus station. the bus had already arrived and Paige was walking with some friends.

"Paige!" I called.

She stopped and turned around, smiling widely at me. "River!"

She said goodbye to her friends and ran toward me. She hugged me and I chuckled.

"Hey sweetheart" I said, and when we separated I gave her her cone.

She took it and we both started walking, the feeling of being watched continued, but I was with Paige, so I shrugged it off.

"Your mom called" I told her, "She's gonna get home late so I'm taking care of you"

She smiled happily. "Perfect!"

I smiled back.

I loved spending time with Paige. She was the most polite and beautiful little girl in all the world. When we were together we usually played a lot. We had tea parties. We talked about boys—but not to much since she was only 10 yeas old. We shopped together...Oh, yes, and I helped her with her homework, of course.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her watching how quickly she ate her Ice Cream.

"Starving" she told me.

"Let's go to Granny's, then" I smiled. I really sucked at cooking, so I didn't even tried to.

Hand in hand we walked toward my apartment.

* * *

_Rosalie waited. _

_Jefferson's face was a puzzle to her, and she felt even more nervous. What if Jefferson didn't want the baby? They didn't really lived in one specific place. Or had a job. Or money. _

_They usually lived out of what Jefferson stole and of the gold Rosalie's father gave him for the things he stole for him...Besides, they never stayed in one place for more than a week. They rotated lands, exploring and having fun._

_And with a baby...that had to change. They would need to get a real home and real jobs and...and...and—_

_"Who's the father?" asked Jefferson suddenly. _

_Rosalie looked at him incredulously. "Jefferson!—" _

_"We're having a baby?" he asked slowly. _

_She nodded. _

_"I'm going to be a father" He looked like he had momentarily shock. _

_"Jeff...?" asked Rosalie a bit concerned. _

_"I'm going to be a father" repeated Jefferson. _

_Rosalie felt nervous again, "Yeah, and I'm gonna be a mother" _

_He then started to react. He cupped her face while grinning widely, "We're having a baby?" _

_She nodded, smiling nervously. _

_Jefferson laughed, and kissed her, raising her from the ground. She laughed too, feeling relieved. _

_"So...you're not...mad?" _

_"Mad!" laughed Jefferson, "How could I be mad? We're gonna have a baby..." his smile dropped suddenly, like he just caught the real meaning of all of it, "Oh..." he said suddenly. _

_"What?" asked Rosalie, a bit concerned for her husband's sudden change of mood. _

_"Your father is going to kill me" he said deadly serious. Yeah, the Dark One would probably kill him for touching his daughter. Not really caring that they were married. _

_Rosalie laughed, relieved and happy. _

* * *

When we entered Granny's, Ruby shoot me a smirk.

"Hey, girl" she said kissing my cheek.

"Hi, Ruby" I smiled.

"Hi, Ruby" said Paige a bit shyly.

"Hi, Paige" smiled Ruby.

She followed us to a table, and as we sit, she asked me a question I didn't really wanted to answer "How was the date with Dr. Whale?"

I groaned as Paige raised her head and looked at me. "You're dating Dr. Whale"

"No!" I said to her, to then turn to Ruby, "Ruby. It wasn't a date, ok"

"Yeah, sure" she snorted.

I gave her a look, "We're just friends, honestly, I don't like him like that"

Ruby clearly didn't believed me, as she continued to gave me a 'yeah, right' look.

I rolled my eyes, we didn't liked each other like that, we were just friends. Honestly, we had been friends, like, forever. We went to college together, and we worked together once at an animal shelter (long story), but that was it. He secretly have a thing for Ruby, and honestly, the only one that hadn't noticed was her. I mean...he hits on her every time he saw her.

"Well, he's—"

"So, uh...what do you want, Paige?" I asked trying to change the conversation.

She gave me an amused smile, and ordered something. I ordered a sandwich because I wasn't really hungry, and as Ruby left, Paige sighed and smiled at me.

"I like being with you" she told me suddenly.

"Oh" I smiled widely, cooing slightly, "I like being with you too"

She looked at the table for some minutes, and I grew a bit concerned.

"Is everything ok?" I asked.

She dared to look up. "Has...has my mom told you about Boston?"

"Uh, what exactly about Boston?" I asked.

She sighed, "She was offered a job there" She didn't really looked too happy about it.

I smiled widely. "Paige, that's awesome!"

"It isn't!" said Paige.

"Why?" I asked confused.

She didn't answer me for another minutes.

"She wants us to move there" she told me.

I felt a pang in my heart that confused me. It hurts to think that she would move to Boston with her family, and I won't get to see her again. It...really, really hurts. And...I didn't really know why. I mean, I love Paige, I really do. But we're just friends, we're not family or anything, and yet...I felt as if a part of me broke when I heard that. I think it was my heart.

"And...you don't want to?" I asked slowly.

She shook her head. "I have friends here. My school is here and I really love my teachers and..." she looked at me, "I have you too, and I don't want to go. I don't want to loose all my friends. I don't want to loose you"

"Oh, baby..." I sighed, and took her hand, "You're not gonna loose me."

"You promise?" she asked teary eyed.

"Cross my heart" I nodded moving my fingers to my heart.

* * *

_A heavily pregnant Rosalie followed Belle to her library. _

_"You know, I'm glad you're with my father" she told the beautiful girl. _

_Belle looked at her, "Seriously?" _

_Rosalie nodded. "Of course. You are good for him" _

_Belle smiled widely, "You think so?" _

_"I'm sure" smiled Rosalie, "You at least bring the good side of him—" _

_"I do?" _

_"Of course you do." said Rosalie, "And not even me or my brother could do that." _

_Belle smiled a bit, and opened a door. "I'm not sure about that. I'm just his maid" _

_As they stepped inside, Rosalie smiled. "Wow" _

_"I know" smiled Belle. _

_"And you say my father don't have feelings for you" coughed Rosalie. _

_Belle looked at her. "What?" _

_Rosalie looked at her, and smiled. "Nothing" _

_"BELLE!" _

_Rosalie shared a look with said girl. "Did you do something wrong?" _

_"No. He usually shouts to me when there's people with him" replied Belle slowly. _

_"Oh. Ok. Lets go then" said Rosalie. _

_They both walked to where the boys were. _

_Rosalie was with Belle because Jefferson, Frankenstein and her father were talking. And her father ordered her to go with Belle, because it was a private conversation. She of course knew it probably wasn't about something good, but at the moment she didn't cared. She had wasted a lot of her time and breath trying to stop Jefferson from using more magic, since it changed her father so much, and she didn't wanted it to change him too. But it never worked—_

_Rosalie's thought were interrupted as she felt water fall from her thighs. _

_She looked to herself confused. It wasn't falling from her thighs. It was falling from...oh. _

_"Oh" said Rosalie. _

_They were already at the door when she felt it. _

_"Is something wrong?" asked Belle. _

_Rumplestilskin, Jefferson and Frankenstein looked at them both. _

_"Uh. Jefferson?" she asked slowly, feeling pain erupting suddenly from her belly. _

_"Yeah?" asked Jefferson, looking sassy and sarcastic, as he always did when he was with her father. _

_"Don't panic..." she started, gasping a little from the pain, "But I think the baby's coming" _

* * *

When we got home, I turned on the TV and put a movie for the both of us. She really liked Disney movies, so I prepared the DVD with all our favourite ones.

The movie started, and soon we were both laughing and talking in hushed voices. We were sort of cuddling, and soon after the first hour of the movie, she fell asleep in my arms. When I noticed, I smiled softly, running my hand through her soft dark blonde hair. It was a common thing for us, we would play a little, eat dinner and then we would cuddle in the couch and she would fall asleep while watching her favourite movies.

After a while I moved from the couch, wanting her to be more comfortable. I put a blanket around her and turned the TV off. I took Paige's dishes from the table and put them in the sink. I just leave them there, deciding to wash them later.

The only thing on my mind was what Paige told me in Granny's. I...I didn't want her to go to Boston. I...I really wanted her to stay.

My thoughts broke when I heard the sound a clock does when a minute pass.

I got confused.

There wasn't any clock in my apartment.

I moved from where the sound came from. I popped my head out of the window, and my eyes widened when I saw the old clock of the Town moving.

It was really moving.

"Is that the old clock?" asked a voice behind me.

I turned and saw Paige rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah..." I said, turning back and looking at it. "Marco probably repaired it"

I realised I probably looked like an idiot gaping at an old clock. I blushed and turned back to Paige. "Did it woke you up?"

She nodded, her eyes half closed. I chuckled and raised her from the ground. "Come on, little girl, let's go back to sleep"

I got worried when the night passed and Paige's mom didn't show up to take her home.

* * *

_Rosalie screamed. _

_"PUSH!" yelled Dr. Frankenstein. _

_She screamed while pushing. A very pale Jefferson was at his side, taking her hand. Rumplestilskin was right at the other side of Rosalie, also taking her hand. Belle was watching wide eyes at the edge of the door. _

_"Come one, honey, push" said Jefferson in an encouraging voice. _

_Rosalie turned to him and gave him a glare that made him squirm. _

_"Shut up!" she yelled, "You are never, ever, touching me again!" _

_Jefferson's eyes widened, and Rumplestilskin smirked, while Dr. Frankenstein yelled at her to push again. "Come one, Rosalie! I see the head" _

_"It hurts" she whimpered, but still pushed. _

_"Come on, one last push...!" She screamed, and with a last push she felt something moving away from inside her. _

_She felt dizzy, and lightheaded. Then she heard a baby crying, and Jefferson and Rumplestilskin let go of her hands. _

_"Congratulations" said Dr. Frankenstein, "It's a girl" _

_She sit slowly, while Dr. Frankenstein gave her the baby. _

_She took it very carefully, and her breath escaped her throat. Big wide beautiful brown eyes stared at her in wonder. She was covered in blood and things from inside her that she really didn't want to think about, but she was the most beautiful creature in all of creation in her eyes. _

_"She's beautiful" she whispered. _

_Jefferson was looking at her with a true smile, one of the few that he reserved for Rosalie only. Now for the baby girl too. He reached for her, and Rosalie gave her to him very slowly, her body hurting from all the pushes. _

_"What should we call her?" asked Rosalie slowly. _

_9 months and they still weren't sure of what to call the baby. _

_Jefferson was watching her like she was the most important thing on earth for him. _

_And she was. She and Rosalie. _

_"Grace" said Jefferson. _

_Rosalie smiled. The baby, now called Grace, put her hand on his father's cheek, making him widen his smile, the look of pure love and adoration on his blue eyes never leave him. _

_"Lovely name" said Rumplestilskin, watching them interact with a smile on his face._

_Rosalie and Jefferson smiled at each other. _

_"For she would be our little grace" continued Jefferson. _


	3. Chapter 3

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* * *

The same night, I was watching TV, sitting comfy in my couch while Paige slept on my bed. I was still awake because I was waiting for Mrs. Grace to call me or came here to take Paige, but it was really late now, and I was getting worried.

Mrs. Grace was never late, she was a really good mother, so I was starting to grow worried when it passed midnight, and she still hadn't show up. What if something bad happened?

Then, as I was about to go to sleep, there was a knock on my door.

I glanced at my clock, it was 4am now. I slowly got up from the couch, walked as quietly as I could, not wanting to wake up Paige, and I opened the door.

Mrs. Grace stood there, sobbing grossly and holding herself.

My eyes widened. "Mrs. Grace, are you okay?" I looked at her up and down, asking myself if she had been robbed or something like that. "Are you hurt?" She didn't answer, she just sobbed even more.

I grabbed her arm and helped her inside. She hugged herself to me, and I let the older woman cry on my shoulder while I grew even more concerned. What could have happened to make her cry? She looked so strong and brave I couldn't imagine what could have happened to her.

It took a while for her to calm down, so when she did I helped her sit in my couch, and I gave her a cup of tea for her to calm her nerves.

"What happened?" I asked worriedly, "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

She looked at me, teary eyed, and looked around for Paige.

She spotted her, and calmly got up and hunched next to the bed, moving carefully one of Paige's blonde curls out of the way. She was looking at her daughter with so much love that it made my heart shutter. I realised, with surprise, that I would have liked someone to look at me that way.

I had never had someone look at me that way. Not my parents, nor my past boyfriends had ever looked at me like that.

I walked toward them slowly, and very, very carefully, I put one of my hands on her shoulder. "Mrs. Grace?"

She hugged me again, and I drew circles on her back, patiently waiting for her to feel better. "What's wrong?" I dared to ask.

She took a deep sight, and locked her eyes into mine. "My husband just had an accident" she sobbed.

My eyes widened, "Oh my God! How did it happen? Is he okay?"

She sobbed again on my shoulder, "He's dead"

* * *

_16-year-old Rosalie was sobbing, wild, not feminine sobs. _

_Hook had sell them off to The Lost Boys, and she and her brother had been separated. He went to where the boys where, while they send Rosalie to Peter Pan's personal chambers. Where Peter Pan had been really interested in knowing how many times he could make her scream in pain as he raped her relentlessly. _

_At the beginning he wasn't like that. He had show himself as a charming young man, enchanting Rosalie with sweet words and promised of a family there with them, but when Rosalie started to show the fire that lived inside of her, he had started to like her even more. _

_"I like fire" he had said, smirking and looking at her up and down. It didn't helped that there weren't many girls on the island. None, really. Just her. _

_Then she lost a game to him...and that had started a new 'game'. A game which only Peter enjoyed. _

_Thankfully for Rosalie, Pan always leaves in the morning to taunt some other Lost Boys, so Rosalie had her time to sob and cry and wish to die. Neverland was the true hell. She had thought life with her father was hard and horrific, him being The Dark One and always killing and...Oh god, how she wished to be with her father again. _

_She realised that she never should have helped her brother ask the Blue Fairy for that magic bean. It has been the worst error of her life. At least with Rumplestiltskin she was safe. He would never, ever, hurt her or her brother. Now, with Pan she was more than hurt, and she didn't know about her brother. She didn't know if he had escaped or if he was...or if he was...dead. _

_She just hoped he was alive. _

_She heard Pan's footsteps and she whimpered, hugging herself in hopes of disappearing. Then he entered. _

_"Get up!" he ordered. She looked up at him, scared. _

_He just grinned at her, "Let's play a game" _

* * *

Mrs. Grace told me her husband had been driving out of town; he was going to check some hotels and things for their planned trip to Boston for Mrs. Grace new job. But just when he was going out of town, he mysteriously bumped into a tree, and the car exploded. I though that maybe ha had been drunk, but didn't voiced out my thoughts. I didn't wanted Mrs. Grace to get offended or something. Besides, Mr. Grace didn't looked like the type of person who drinks and drives. The poor man.

"Oh, River" she sobbed, "How am I going to live withouth him?"

I sighed and held her again. She was a bit older than me, but after so many years of me babysitting Paige, I considered her a friend, and I was truly sorry about her lost.

"Do you need help with something?" I asked her, "I can take care of Paige if you need me too while you are taking care of the things for...you know" the funeral.

She shook her head. "I want to be with her" her lip trembled, "I-I..."

"How am I going to tell Paige?" She cried again.

It was a complete disaster. Poor Paige was devastated when she heard about what happened to her father. It was horrible, she sobbed so much...it broke my heart. She was so young, and now she didn't had her father with her anymore.

It wasn't fair.

"Poor Paige" said Ruby, giving me my coffe.

"You should have seen her..." I said quietly, closing my hands on the cup. "She was so hearbroken, It broke my heart seeing her like that" it truly did.

"When is the funeral?" she asked me.

"Tommorrow" I said with a sight.

"You want to hang out tonight?" she asked me.

I sighed again, "I don't know, Red. I'm tired and I wanted to be with Paige...—"

"How did you call me?" she interrupted me, sounding more amused than angry.

I gave her a confused glance. "What?"

"You called me Red" she said.

My eyebrows raised, "Did I?" I definitely was spending too much time with Henry. Now I'm calling my best friend Red Riding Hood.

She nodded, a thoughtful look on her pretty face. "I like it"

I snorted. "I'm sure you do"

She smiled, but the frowned. "You can't continue doing that, River" she told me.

"Doing what?" I asked.

"What you're doing! You care too little for yourself." she told me, and I blushed, because it was true. "You spend too much time with kids, and you don't even go on dates anymore, you don't even hang out with me anymore." her tone was almost hurt, "You're young, Riv. We both are. We should be enjoining life while we still have it" she sighed. "Paige's not your daughter, stop treating her like she is"

I blinked at her. "I-I don't—" I didn't treated Paige like she was my daughter...did I?

"Yes you do" told me Ruby.

I didn't knew what to say, so I just drank my coffe. Ruby sighed.

"Look, I'm just worried about you" she said, giving me her kind smile.

"I know. You're right" she truly was. Lately I hadn't being myself. I spent too much time with kids and didn't even cared about myself. My usually silky blonde hair was a rats nets and my cognac eyes looked tired and the bags under my eyes didn't helped. "I just...I don't know what's wrong with me. I have been feeling this nostalgia over nothing and..."

It was true. Lately I had been feeling nostalgic, but didn't knew why. I mean...something inside me was telling me that I should be sad. I just didn't knew why.

She just nodded. "I know the feeling."

I sipped my coffee again. "Do you want to come home tonight? We could have a girls night"

She grinned. "That sounds good"

I returned the smile.

She returned to work when Granny called her attention, and I glanced around. Granny's was a bit full today. I spotted Henry and Emma in one of the tables. He looked at me and waved, I waved back. Emma looked back, and I gave her a polite smile and a nod of my head.

She wasn't so bad, I guess, she decided to stay here for Henry. And she seemed to be the only one to stood up to Regina, so, yeah, she had my respect now.

I snapped out of my thought when Henry smiled at me and pointed to the end of the restaurant. I followed his finger, and saw a man sitting on a table. I looked back at Henry, confused, but he had returned to his conversation with his mom.

I didn't glanced back at the man, if I had, I would have seen him looking at me with pain.

* * *

_Pan guided her to the middle of the island, where he smirked and showed her to all the other Lost Boys, who laughed and sneered. Rosalie's heart swelled when she didn't saw her brother there. _

_"The game is quite easy" Pan said, walking in circles around Rosalie. Like a predator. "Its called Cat and Mouse. She ran. We catch her" _

_Rosalie looks at him, "And if no one catches me?" her voice sounded broken and small. _

_They all laughed._

_"Oh, believe me, we will" smirked Pan. _

_Rosalie's heart did a double take. "And if you catch me..." She tried to make her voice sound normal. It was hard, but she managed to. _

_"Another type of game starts" smirked Pan, "Like the one we play every nights" _

_Rosalie paled. "And if a miracle happens and you don't catch me?" _

_They laughed again, "That's not gonna happen" said one of them. _

_Pan hushed them, "Well, if we don't catch you...I'll leave you alone for a while" _

_Rosalie looked at him wide eyed. "F-For real?" _

_Pan rolled his eyes, "Don't get to hopeful, dear, that's not going to happen" Of course it wasn't. He knew where everyone on the island was. _

_"A girl can dream" managed to say Rosalie. _

_Pan smirked. "Ready?" They all turned to her and looked at her smirking and sneering. Rosalie paled again and prepared herself to run. _

_Peter stopped them when they prepared to attack. _

_"I'm a nice boy" he said suddenly, making Rosalie shudder. He wasn't. "And I like you" Rosalie shuddered again, yeah, he liked her. "I'll give you a couple of minutes of advantage" _

_Rosalie looked at him, shocked, "Why?" _

_Pan grinned, but didn't answered "The Game is on, Rose, I suggest you start running" _

_She didnt needed to be told twice. _

_As Rosalie ran, she heard, exactly ten minutes after she ran, the Lost Boy's laughter and yells as they followed her. Rosalie didn't noticed it, but as she ran she had reached the water, where Hook's ship was. She didn't cared that she saw him looking at her as she ran for her life. He had sold them off, and for that Rosalie would never forgive him. _

_Rosalie took a wrong turn, and bumped into someone. She whimpered, thinking it had been Pan. He had catch her too quickly..._

_"Careful there, sweetheart" said a voice Rosalie had never heard before. _

_Her eyes widened, and she looked at the man in front of her. He looked to be some years older that her, maybe 20-ish. He was handsome, blue eyes, brown hair and a smirk on his face. _

_Rosalie didn't had more time to look at the stranger, because she heard the Lost Boys footsteps. She got up so quickly she felt dizzy, but she didn't cared. She started to run, but the strange man grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her, pinning her against a tree. She wanted to scream that that wasn't going to work with them, but he had put a hand on her mouth too._

_Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest, as she waited for the Lost Boys, or Pan himself to found her. She was surprised when they all continued running, not noticing she was there with someone. _

_She waited till they were out of sight, and she moved the man's hand out of her mouth. He was looking at the Lost Boys, but he turned to her when she moved her hand. _

_She looked at him. "Who are you?" he wasn't part of Hook's crew, that's something Rosalie knew, because she hadn't seen him there. Then who was him? And how did he entered the island? He was far too old to have been brought by the shadow. _

_"Call me Hatter" he sort of smirked. _

_"I'm Rosalie" said the girl. "And, uh, Thanks" _

_He just nodded. _

_Then, Rosalie felt strong hands wrapping themselves around her waist, and she was raised from the ground. _

_"I win" whispered Pan's voice on her ear. _

_She struggled and started to scream. _

_Pan laughed, "Come on, you know you'll enjoy it, Rosie" he mocked her. _

_She cried out when he tightened the grip on her. He just laughed, but stopped when he first noticed the man in front of them, who was still watching them. _

_Pan dropped the girl, but hold her there on the floor magically. She struggle, but obviously couldn't move. The hatter man was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, to then look at Pan tilting his head. _

_"Are you Peter Pan?" he asked, direct to the point. _

_"At your service" he mock bowed, "Now, I don't want to be rude, but, uh, who are you, and how did you get into my island?" He acted normal, but deep down he felt intimidated by the man. He didn't know who he was, or how was he on the island. It was the first time something like that happened. Deep down, Peter knew there weren't any Magic Beans left, and that man surely couldn't know about the other entrance...Right? _

_The Hatter smirked, "Call me Hatter. I have...my own ways of entering places" So he did knew about that other entrance. _

_Pan glared at him. "Portal Jumper"_

_The Hatter just smirked in a half shrug. "Guilty" _

_Pan continued glaring. No one was supposed to know about that door, now, a portal jumper has found his way through the door. _

_"What do you want?" asked Pan, crossing his arms. _

_"I don't want anything" he assured him, "I'm just passing by, exploring the island" he was pacing as he talked, mock observing the trees and the nature. "Though, I wouldn't mind finding some Dreamshade" _

_Slowly, Pan started to smirk, "Dreamshade?" _

_The Hatter nodded. _

_"It's poison" said Rosalie quickly, not wanting someone else to die. _

_Pan silenced her with a movement of his fingers. _

_"I know" replied the Hatter calmly. _

_"And why do you want it then?" asked Pan. _

_"It's not for me" he said. _

_He didn't elaborated more. _

_Pan just smirked. "Okay. Feel free to search for it" The poor idiot would probably end dead, thought Peter. _

_He turned to leave, raising Rosalie in the air with him. _

_"Wait" the Hatter called. _

_Pan turned around. _

_"Who's her?" the Hatter asked, pointing to Rosalie. _

_Pan smirked again, "My personal whore" _

* * *

At the afternoon I was in my apartment, preparing things for when Ruby would come here. I didn't really did much, because Henry and Mary Margaret knocked on my door, and I was a bit tad surprised when they told me Archie called the police. He accused Emma of stealing Henry's records.

But why on Earth's name would he do that?!

"That's a lie!" I said as we three walked toward the Sheriff's station. "I was there, he gave them to her"

It had been in the morning. Emma had came to the office asking about Henry, and Archie had been the one to offer the records to her. Not the other way around. I hardly doubted Emma would steal something. At least not here with Regina being so bitchy about her presence.

I had talked to her, and she seemed to be a good woman. And she seemed to care for Henry, at least enough to be worried about him and all that.

I decided I liked her. If she was good to Henry, then it was good to me.

Mary Margaret looked at me. "Regina came to school and told Henry" she told me.

I grumbled, "Then, obviously, it was her". I was mad, because Archie took his job very seriously, and if Regina made him do it...It just made me hate her even more than I—whoa, wait, since when do I hate her? I disliked her, but hate...No. I don't hate people.

"I need you to bail her out" told me Henry.

I blushed. "Uh..."

"Please, River..." Henry gave me his best puppy dog eyes.

I moved uncomfortable.

Mary Margaret looked at me. She seemed to understand my why I couldn't. My job at Archie's was just a distraction. The money I received for it and for babysitting kids gave the right amount of money to pay my apartment and buy food. Nothing more. Right now, I didn't have any money.

"I'm sorry kid, but I-I don't have money" I was blushing even hotter.

"It's okay" said Mary Margaret really quickly, "I can bail her out"

Henry smiled at her, and I gave her a 'thank you' look, feeling my cheeks got hotter as I tried not to feel embarrassed.

We three entered the station, and we saw Graham taking pictures of Emma.

"Hey!" said Henry.

The both of them turned to us.

"Henry. Henry, what are you doing here?" asked Graham.

"His mother told him what happened" said Mary Margaret.

"Of course she did" said Emma glaring at Graham. Then she saw me, "You can ask River too, she was there"

I nodded. "It was a lie" I told Graham, "Archie gave her those files"

Graham gave me a look, "River..."

"I'm not lying" I told him, as Emma talked to Henry.

"I know you're not" he whispered, and I looked at him.

"Henry, I don't know what she said—" Emma started, but Henry interrupted her.

"You're a genius" he said.

We all looked at him.

"What?" asked Emma confused.

"I know what you were up to" Henry said. Emma looked at him blankly, and he continued, "You were gathering intel...for Operation Cobra?"

_What the hell was Operation Cobra? _

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost" said Graham.

"You're not the only one" I whispered.

Henry looked at Graham. "It's need-to-know, sheriff, and all you need to know is that Ms. Blanchard's gonna bail her out"

Emma looked at Mary Margaret incredulously, and a bit suspicious. She seemed unable to trust someone, I noticed.

"You are?" she asked, "Why?"

Mary Margaret took a second to answer, "I, uh, trust you"

Henry turned to Emma and smirked at her.

"Well, if you can uncuff me, I have something to do" said Emma to Graham, a bit too coldly.

* * *

_The same night, as Peter played his flute, and the Lost Boys danced around laughing, Rosalie closed her eyes and dig his feet on the floor, trying to restrain her urges to join the dance. _

_She was sitting a bit far from everyone, wanting to disappear. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and her eyes widened. It wasn't Pan, he was still playing his flute. Felix was with him, so it wasn't him. Bae wasn't nowhere to be seen, so it wasn't him either. _

_She slowly turned around, still trying to block Pan's music out of her. She didn't wanted to give him the satisfaction of seeing her dance like...like...like a Lost Girl. _

_It was the Hatter. _

_"Wha—" _

_He silenced her with his hand on her mouth, yet again. _

_She understood, and slowly, very slowly, she raised from her spot. He made a 'follow me' gesture, and she did. _

_Before doing so she glanced at Pan, but he was immerse on his notes. _

_She followed the Hatter into the forest. _

_"What?" she asked when they were pretty far from Pan and the Lost Boys. _

_"How old are you?" he asked instead. _

_"What?" asked again Rosalie. _

_The Hatter rolled his eyes. "I don't like to repeat myself, so I'll ask you only more time. How old are you?" His voice had taken a dangerous edge, and she decided to answer. _

_Why the hell did he wanted to know that? But she still answered. _

_"I'm 16 years old" she said, to then frown, "At least I was when I first came here" she wasn't sure how many time could have passed since she came to Neverland. For her it felt like an eternity, though time was different there. _

_He looked thoughtful. He then signalled to Pan. "Are you here by your own decision or is he...forcing you?" his question had double meaning, and Rosalie felt afraid to answer. _

_"Why do you care?" she asked crossing her arms. She had learned, the hard way, not to trust someone you just met. She had trusted Hook, and he had been the reason her mother abandoned them, and he sold them off to Pan. Then, she trusted Pan—just a little bit, and he defrauded her by raping her and being an evil son of a bitch that only cared about himself. _

_The Hatter's eyes shined with annoyance. "Just answer the question" _

_"Why?" she asked, still glaring up at him. _

_He sighed. "You are just a kid. It's cruel if he's using you" _

_Rosalie glared at him. "I'm not a kid" _

_"You are young" he corrected himself._

_"And besides, what do you care if it's cruel or not" she said, "You're not a hero" he didn't looked like one. He had a villain look, dressed like that, all black and his arrogant complexion. _

_"I know I'm not" he snapped, "But I'm a gentleman, and I respect women" _

_They were silent for a seconds, and Rosalie sighed before looking back at Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. _

_"I came here by choice" she admitted, remembering how she and Bae had told the shadow to take them and leave the Darlings alone. "We all did" _

_She signalled to the "happy" Lost Boys, dancing and messing around. But that was just a part of it. Their happiness would end when they went to sleep. She moved away, and the Hatter followed her. She guided him to where some Lost Boys were sleeping. But they weren't just sleeping, they were sobbing and crying. Some of them muttered "Mummy!" or "Daddy!" or "Mama!" and "Papa!" _

_The Hatter looked horrified, the first real emotion she had seen on his face. _

_"Why are they crying?" he asked slowly. _

_"When the night fell, we all started missing our families" she said, watching them sadly. _

_"Why don't you all just go?" he asked, glancing down at the girl. _

_She scoffed. "You really are new here" _

_The Hatter raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?" _

_"You think I haven't tried to?" she asked, "He doesn't let us" _

_"Who? Pan?" scoffed the Hatter, "He's just a boy"_

_"He's not just a boy" Rosalie said, "He's the devil" _

_"I have heard" said the Hatter, "But I don't believe he is" _

_Rosalie looked at him._

_"Why are you talking to me? I mean...just why?" _

_Why was he so intersected in the Lost Boys/Girls? He was just supposed to take the Dreamshade and go. _

_"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked her instead of answering. _

_Rosalie looked at him. Was that some type of test Pan had planned? Or something like that?_

_"I can't" she said, instead of answering him, "The only way out of here is with Pan's consent. He controls who enters and who go" _

_The Hatter smirked. "There's one entrance he can't control" _

_Rosalie's eyes widened. "What?" _

_"Where do you think I came from?" he said, "I'm a Portal Jumper, I jump between lands, this is one of them. I can get you out" _

_"Why?" she asked. _

_He sighed rolling his eyes. "I told you. You're young, you shouldn't be considered a whore" _

_Rosalie felt a bit confused. He seemed sincere, but she didn't wanted to trust him. What if he failed her like Hook did? Besides, it never ended well when you trusted a villain. _

_"What's your price?" she asked. _

_"There's always a price" he scoffed, like he couldn't believe she asked that, "And here's mine" she rolled her eyes. Of course. "I help you get out of here if..." he stopped to think, and seemed to realise the girl didn't had anything of value. "Well, you don't have anything of value to me, so I guess I'll do it by free" _

_Rosalie rolled her eyes at him. _

_He smirked. "Meet me tomorrow night right here, and I'll take you out of here" _

_"W-What? Tomorrow? Why not now?" she asked quickly. _

_The Hatter sighed rolling his eyes. "Relax, just trust me." he rolled his eyes again and elaborated when she continued to look at him, "One person in, one person out. Hats rules, not mine." _

_"What?" asked Rosalie._

_He sighed. "Look, just trust me, okay? I just have to find someone and then I'll come for you, and we both will be out of here" _

_She bit her lips. "Okay" she didn't trusted him, but if he was her only chance to get out of the island..._

* * *

I giggled as Henry told me what Emma did. After she had gone from the Sheriff station, she had come here and destroyed half of Regina's favourite apple tree.

"She's crazy" I said, unable to contain myself from grinning.

"She's awesome" he corrected me.

I kind of smiled, because yeah, she was kind of awesome, I guess. She seems to be the only one that dared to stood up to Regina.

"Now, I have been reading your book" I told him, making him grin and look at me, "And I love it"

He grinned even wider. "Its awesome, right?"

I nodded smiling. It really was. I mean...They were all different from what I knew about them, and it was awesome, because they were cooler and I really liked them.

"What's your favourite story?" he asked me eagerly.

"Well, I really like Red Riding Hood's story, and it's not because she's my best friend here" I joked, "But I think my favourite is Snow White and Charming's story" I sighed, "Their love is so strong...I kinda wish I could have someone love me as much as they love each other"

He looked at me. "Maybe you do have someone!" he told me.

I shrugged. "I don't know, kid, I don't even have a boyfriend" I sighed again, "I suck at dates" I really did. I get to nervous and I often felt awkward at them. I really didn't know what to say or do on them.

Henry opened the book and started to flip the pages.

"What are you doing?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

"I'm trying to see if I can deduce who you are" he told me.

I bit my lips, restraining myself from saying something that could make Henry feel bad.

"How are you gonna do that, sweetie?" I asked instead.

"Do you see yourself as a princess?" he asked me.

I snorted, "Definitely no" I wasn't cute enough to be one.

"Mmm" he continued flipping the pages.

Henry continued reading the book for some minutes, and I sighed looking at his roof. After a while, he sighed and closed the book.

"Got something?" I asked curiously. I died to know who he thinks I was.

"You could be anyone" he told me, a bit frustrated, "Though, I'm guessing between Goldilocks and Rapunzel"

I thought for a moment, trying hard not to smile amused.

"I don't know kid, I'm a bit old to be goldilocks, aren't I?" I smiled.

He shrugged, "What about Rapunzel?"

"My hair's not that long" I said shrugging.

He looked at me incredulously, like saying 'honestly? Is that your excuse?'

"You are so hard" he said sighing.

I shrugged, "Maybe I'm not in the book"

"No, no, no, everyone is on the book" he said.

"I was trying to say that maybe I'm not important enough to be on these stories" I said sighing.

"Everyone's important" he told me seriously.

I smiled, feeling my heart got warm at his cuteness. "You're so cute"

He blushed, and smiled at me. "I know"

I rolled my eyes at him.

We talked about his book for a long time. But as today is was Thursday, and Thursday's he ate dinner with Regina at five, I walked him to her office.

* * *

_The next morning, Rosalie searched all the island in hopes of seeing Baelfire there, but he wasn't. She just hoped he was okay. _

_When the night fell, she walked toward camp, trying to act normal in hopes that Pan didn't notice how nervous she really was. If things turned out wrong...it wouldn't be pleasant for anyone. _

_"What did the Hatter wanted, Rosalie?" asked Pan, appearing in front of her. _

_Rosalie's heart did a double take. "Gods! Peter! Don't do that!" _

_He didn't said anything, and she realised he was waiting for her to answer him. "What do you mean?" _

_"I saw you two talking last night" said Pan, "What did he wanted?" _

_He had seen them! Rosalie heart dropped. She may never escape him..unless..._

_"Oh. Nothing" she said shrugging, trying to look indifferent. "He just wanted to know where the sirens were" _

_"Sirens?" Pan repeated, and Rosalie nodded. _

_He then shrugged, and walked with Rosalie to camp. He too out his flute, but before he could play it, Rosalie pushed him to a tree and kissed him on the mouth. _

_She felt Pan stiffen surprised, but then she felt him smirking in the kiss. Suddenly, Rosalie was the one being pinned to the tree. Pan was kissing hungrily her neck. _

_"I knew sooner or later you would surrender to me" he whispered huskily in her ear. Rosalie closed her eyes, and prayed to the gods her plan would work. _

_Her father had teach her how to use magic once. She just hopped she could use it now, after so many years trying not to. You can do it, Rosalie, she told herself. She though about all the times that bastard touched her without her consent. She though about all the times he humiliated her. She thought about her brother Bae. She felt anger burning inside of her. Her fingers twitched, and Pan yelped when he was pushed roughly to the tree by an invisible force. _

_He was glaring at her, snarling as he tried to breaks from the grasp. _

_"What the hell do you think you are doing!?" he screamed. How the hell could she do that?! She was just a girl! He was more powerful than her. _

_She had froze, surprised that it worked. Then, as Pan started to tear away the tree, she started to run. _

_"BOYS!" called Pan, and Rosalie ran faster. _

_She ran as fast as she could, and soon enough she felt strong hands stopping her. She kicked whoever it was, but when she heard a groan of pain from another voice that was not Pan's, she turned around and saw the Hatter. He was groaning as he touched his nose. Thankfully, it wasn't broken. _

_"Good punch" he said, more amused than mad._

_She flushed. "You came" _

_"You doubted me?" he smirked. _

_Of course she had. She spent all night trying to decide if she should trust him or not. Good thing she did. _

_"Just run" she begged, "They're coming" _

_He took her hand to guide her, and they both ran. They evaded some trees and rocks. The Hatter was guiding Rosalie to a place of the Island she didn't even know existed. _

_"Where are we going?" she asked. _

_"I'm a Portal Jumper" he reminded her, "I use a Hat—" _

_"Is that why you're called the Hatter?" she asked. _

_"—The hat transports me to other Realms" he continued as if she hadn't talked. "But I mostly had to use doors or mirrors" _

_"What?" Rosalie asked. _

_The Hatter sighed exasperated. "Forget it, you'll understand when you see it" _

_Rosalie screamed as a Lost Boy tackled her to the ground, making her let go of the Hatter's hand. _

_"Where do you think you're going? Mother" he taunted. _

_She recognised the voice, it was Felix. She whimpered, but before anything else could happen, Felix was raised from her with a rough movement. The Hatter punched him and trew him to a tree, quickly helping Rosalie and tacking her hand to run again. _

_"Faster, sweetheart, we're almost there" he said. _

_Then, as if hearing her prayers, they reached their destination. A big black door was in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere, there weren't even walls, it was just the door. _

_Rosalie swallowed, panting from their run. "Is that...?" _

_"Yes" the Hatter said. _

_She froze when they walked toward the door, and she saw a figure lying at the side of the door. Covered in blood. She turned to the Hatter wide eyed. _

_"I told you I would have to bring someone" he said. _

_"You killed him?" she asked, still wide eyed. _

_"No..." he said, not really convincingly. "Just come on. All this silence is too much suspicious" _

_It was true. There was no single sound, not even the breeze was moving. _

_Rosalie swallowed, nodding. But didn't dared to move, as she saw a black shadow looking at them. The Hatter moved a bit, but Rosalie's hand in his chest stopped him. "Don't. Move" _

_"Wh—"he saw the shadow too. "Oh. Great" _

_What was the shadow waiting for? Thought Rosalie. _

_Her unasked question was answered when the Lost Boys and Peter Pan suddenly appeared there. Rounding them. _

_Pan looked beyond mad, he looked murderous._

_Then all hell brooke loose. _

_The Lost Boys attacked. Rosalie attacked right back. She had always been more like a quiet girl, but she knew how to fight. The Hatter fought with Pan, while Rosalie tried to take down all the others. The Hatter was lucky, while Pan was good fighting and with Magic, The Hatter was even more good. It had never happened before, and Pan was furious. First, the girl used magic against him, now the Hatter too. Didn't anyone respected him anymore? _

_As Rosalie punched one of the boys, she saw the shadow approaching quickly the Hatter. _

_"HATTER!" Rosalie screamed. "Look out!" _

_He didn't heard her over the yells and snarls the Lost Boys and Pan were letting out. She tried to scream to him again, but he still didn't heard her. _

_She cursed. _

_She ran as fast as she could toward the Hatter and Pan, and as the shadow was about to attack the Hatter to take him his shadow, Rosalie pushed the Hatter roughly, making him fall to the ground with her against him. _

_"ENOUGH!" yelled Pan. _

_Everything went still. Even The Shadow. _

_Rosalie panted against the Hatter, who had put a protective arm around her. "When I told you, you run, as fast as you ca to the door. Ok?" he whispered on her ear. _

_Only then she noticed how close they were to the door. _

_She nodded. _

_"YOU TWO! NOW! MOVE!" Pan snarled. "TAKE THEM TO THE CAVE!" _

_The Lost Boys started to come forwards, but the Hatter pushed Rosalie and the two of them stood, shoulder to shoulder, glancing at all of them. For a second, everyone was too shocked to react. Then, they snapped out of it and started to came forwards. _

_The Hatter moved his hands and all of them were sent flying the other direction. The only one who stood there was Pan, still glaring at them. Daring them to move. _

_The Hatter took a swing at Pan "Rosalie! Now!" _

_She started to run, but realised the Hatter's plan. She turned around and tried to concentrate on using her magic yet again. She and the Hatter charged a glance, and before Pan knew it, he was knocked cold, having been send flying in the air again, this time more powerfully. The Hatter and Rosalie gasped for a second, having joined their magic felt weird-ish._

_They snapped out of it, and the Hatter hurried her, pushing her to the door. The two of them crossed together. _

* * *

I said goodbye to him, and headed back to my apartment. I really needed to clean it for Ruby's visit. I still had evidence of Paige's visit last night. I had toys all around the couch.

I sighed as I thought about Paige. I couldn't stop thinking about how bad it was that her father died...It was so sad.

I snapped out of thought as I saw Mr. Gold struggling to get his cane. It was on the floor, so I quickly walked towards him and helped him.

He raised his head and smiled when he saw me.

"Oh, Ms. Black" he said, "Thank you very much"

I smiled at him. I didn't feared him, like everybody did, I actually liked him.

We walked to his shop, and I was about to ask him something when he looked at me.

"Dear, can you help me with something?" he asked a bit too innocent.

I looked at him, trying to deduce what was he planning.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure"

He opened his shop door and lead me inside. "I'll be right back" he told me.

"Okay" I replied while I watched around. I loved his shop. He had everything there. Lots of pretty things.

I heard his talking to someone. I didn't liked to be nosey, but they were quite loud.

"Why would you do that!?" asked a voice I had never heard in my life.

"You brought her back to me once. Now I'm bringing her back to you" said Gold. "She's my daughter, and it hurts me to see her like this. She needs you"

They were silent for a moment.

"I can't see her" the man sounded pained.

"Why?" asked Gold.

"I left her. I left them both" he said, "She'll hate me"

"She doesn't remember you" said Gold, "What do you have to lose?"

"I can't see her" he repeated, this time a bit louder, "I can't, its just...I watch her, her and Grace, but...seeing her so close. Talk to her..."

I really tried not to listen, but that man's voice was...strangely familiar. I felt like I had heard it before. But I was pretty sure I had never heard it.

I turned around, trying to distract myself watching Mr. Gold's objects. I froze when I saw a hat in one of the display cabinets of the wall.

I didn't liked hats, but this one...this one was different. I inwardly started to move towards it, trying to get a better glance at it. It was truly weird, but I felt drowned to it.

"See something you like?" asked Mr. Gold from behind me, and I practically heard a smirk on his voice.

I jumped and turned to him. He wasn't alone, though, he was with a handsome man. I imagined he must have been the owner of the voice. He was tall, and handsome as I said. He had blue eyes and dark hair. He was wearing dark clothes and a purple scarf around his neck. I felt something weird inside of me. It was like I was happy to see him, but I haven't meet him before, so, it didn't made sense.

I was unable to restrain the big happy smile that crossed my face. His face broke into a smile too.

"Hi" I said shyly.

"Hi" he said too.

* * *

_As soon as Rosalie and the Hatter crossed. She collapsed to the floor. The Hatter let go of a breath, and tried to smirk. "Well, that was fun" he looked a bit out of breath too. _

_The feeling of their joined magics was still to weird for them. _

_Rosalie just gasped a bit. "Yeah" she managed to say. _

_He collapsed in front of her. She glanced around for the first time. They were in a weird room. A sort of dark circular room with a lot of door that had brilliant colours. In the floor there was some engravings. _

_"Is this...?" started Rosalie. _

_She screamed when the door from where they had crossed started to tremble wildly. The Hatter quickly ran to her side, covering her. _

_"What's happening?" she asked. _

_"He's trying to follow us" the Hatter said. He saw the scared look cross her face. "He can't. Don't worry" _

_For another moment nothing happened. _

_"Come on. Let's get out of here" the Hatter started to lead her away when the door exploded, leaving wood pieces all over the room. _

_He covered her, and she gasped moving back. _

_"What just...what just happened?" she asked._

_The Hatter was frowning madly. "He destroyed it! He destroyed the door!" _

_When the Hatter calmed down enough, he guided Rosalie out of the hat. She looked around, unable to suppress the smile at the thought of being free again. _

_She turned to the Hatter. "Thank you so much, Hatter" _

_He looked taken aback, like of he didn't expected her to say thanks. _

_"You welcome" he said slowly. _

_She glanced around again. Everything seemed a bit different, but she recognised it. They were on the Enchanted Forest. _

_"Hey, Rosalie" he called. _

_She turned. "Yeah?" _

_"My name is Jefferson" _


	4. Chapter 4

**MissLizziebeth: Glad you love them! =D I'll update soon! **

**Avalanet: =D I'll update soon! **

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

I didn't know why, but I felt so happy to see that man. It was really weird. But my heart sort of tightened and this big wide grin made its way to my face.

He smiled at me too, but his was different. More sad, but still happy. I felt myself blush when his eyes also twinkled, and Mr. Gold chuckled.

I cleared my throat softly and looked back at him.

"What did you wanted me to help you with?" I asked, trying not to look back at that man. My heart was racing in my chest, and I felt like a teenager, blushing and everything just because a hot guy was smiling at me.

Mr. Gold tilted his head, and feigned a embarrassed look. "Oh, dear, I'm afraid it's just silly now, I can do it myself. But thank you"

I sighed, a bit exasperated. "Okay, then, I have to go"

"You're going to see young Ms. Grace?" Mr. Gold asked me.

I shook my head. "She's with her mother. But I'm going to the funeral tomorrow"

"Poor girl" nodded Mr. Gold.

The man looked at us both. "What happened to Paige?" He sounded nearly alarmed.

I turned to him, surprised. Had he met her? But before I could ask, his blue eyes searched mine in a way that felt old.

I blinked a few times. "Uh..." I shook my head. What the hell was wrong with me? "Her father died last night."

"Oh" said the man, slowly.

"Poor girl, don't you think, Jefferson?" said Mr. Gold. "So young and fatherless"

The man, Jefferson, sort of glared at Mr. Gold. I looked between them, to then shake my head. "I really have to go. I promised Ruby we would have a girls night"

The both of them snapped to look at me.

"See you then, dear" said Mr. Gold giving me a true smile.

I smiled back. "Bye, Mr. Gold. Have a good day"

I looked at Jefferson and gave him a soft smile, groaning mentally when I blushed as he smiled at me.

"Goodbye, River"

I didn't asked how he knew my name. "Bye, Jefferson"

* * *

The rest of the day was okay, I guess. I had my girls night with Ruby, but even after everything that we talked about and the things we did, I still couldn't quite shake off the feeling of happiness off me.

I was almost worried. Why was I feeling that way? It was because of him. I knew it instantly. The way he smiled at me and...just seeing him, make me happy. And that seriously creeped me out. I didn't even liked him like that! Sure, yeah, he was hot, but I don't know him! For all I know he could be a creep...

Ruby and I fell asleep talking to each other.

In my dreams, I wasn't myself.

* * *

_River looked down at herself, she was wearing an old pretty dress, like the one Princesses wore. It was a light shade of red that matched her bright red lips. _

_She looked around confused. Then, she seemed to notice that the dress wasn't the only thing that looked old and princess-like. The place was a big castle, there were even a couple of guards and things. _

_Where the hell was she?_

_"Rosalie! Here you are" said a weird voice behind her. _

_River turned, startled, but her eyes only widened when she saw a man that looked just like Mr. Gold, but only...greenish and...and...evil? Yes. That mischievous look seemed almost evil. _

_"W-What...?" she stammered. _

_"Dearie, you're gonna catch a cold, come back inside to the party" said the man that looked like Mr. Gold. _

_What the actual hell was happening!? _

_"I'm not going back to that place" the words that leaved her mouth weren't hers. River didn't know what they where talking about. "I don't like parties, Papa" she sounded so angry and cold it surprised River. She'd never talked to Mr. Gold like that. _

_The man rolled his eyes. "You're still angry about Jefferson, huh?" _

_She didn't answered, she only glared at him. _

_"Dearie, he's not the one of you" said the man, his tone changing to a soft one. "He's a Casanova, Rosalie, and I don't want you to get hurt" _

_"You don't understand, Papa" she said. _

_"What? Dearie, it's quite clear. He rescued you, and you fell in love with him. It happens. Now, get back inside. We're leaving soon" _

_"No" said Rosalie fiercely. "You don't understand. He's not like that. He loves me too" _

_The man snorted. "I'm sure he does" _

_Rosalie glared at him again. _

_"Dearie, he's only playing with you. I know the type of man he is. He works for me, Rosalie, he doesn't have feeling" he said, now more softly. "You're only going to get hurt" _

_"I don't care" she said, hating that her eyes get teary. It always happened to her when she was angry. "You don't get it, do you? I don't care of I get my heart broken by him" she took a deep breath. "Papa, I love him" _

_The man's eyes changed suddenly, but River didn't knew how to read them. _

_"Please, just...let me be with him" she said, nearly begging. "I miss him so much..." _

* * *

River suddenly woke up when she felt Ruby's arm hitting her face. She groaned and pushed the arms out of her face. She glanced at her best friend, but she was still profoundly asleep. River turned, and continued sleeping, mentally hoping to go back to the same dream. It was weird, but kinda funny too, like a movie.

* * *

_River found herself in the same place again, but this time, the man that looked like Mr. Gold wasn't there. She was alone, looking at the moon with tears in her eyes. _

_To her back River still could hear the music and conversations of the party, but she didn't cared about that. She was curious about what was she waiting for. _

_Then, a figure appeared close to the gates of the place. River's eyes widened and a wide smile made her way to her face._

_"Jefferson" she breathed. _

_She moved and started to run towards him, he opened his arms and caught her in his arms, the both of them sharing a heated kiss. _

_"Rosalie" he breathed when they separated their lips, only to hug at each other tightly. _

* * *

The alarm clock woke me up. It took me a couple of minutes to realise where I was. But when I did, I remembered the dream I just had, and I groaned.

_What the actual hell was wrong with me!? Now I imagined myself kissing a stranger! What the hell!? _

"River" moaned Ruby. "Go back to sleep"

I shook my head. I was just stressed, I told myself. Too much stress. Yes. That was it. I wasn't dreaming about strangers kissing me. No. It was just stress. My lips didn't felt hot like if I had really kissed him. And my hands didn't remembered his touch on my skin as we hugged. No. Definitely not. And I wasn't blushing either. I was just stressed.

"It's morning already, Ruby" I managed to say.

I untangled myself from my sheets and went to the bathroom to get dressed for Mr. Grace funeral. I heard Ruby groaning and moaning as she complained about how it was only six o'clock.

"I have to go to Mr. Grace's funeral" I reminded Ruby.

She groaned and untangled her face from my pillows. Murmuring something that sounded like 'the funeral doesn't start till eight'.

"I know" I told her. "But I want to take a shower and eat breakfast before going"

* * *

At Granny's restaurant, I was sitting on a table alone. I was reading the newspaper as I drank my tea. Ruby had gone to the kitchener work when her granny started to argue with her.

"Good Morning, River"

I nearly chocked on my tea when I saw Jefferson smiling at me softly in front of me. A blush invaded my cheeks as I remembered my dream about him.

"Good Morning" I nodded, forcing myself to smile like it was nothing.

"Can I sit?" I nodded, taking a sip of my tea. He sat in the chair in front of mine, and looked around.

"How's Paige?" he asked me softly, turning back and looking at me.

I looked at him, but my words died on my throat when I see how much care and sadness and love he had on his blue eyes.

"I..." I swallowed, my head burning. I had seen that look before, I was sure. "...Jefferson?"

Something in his changed. His eyes sparkled hopefully and his hands took mine. And slowly, nearly scared, he asked. "You...remember?"

"What?" I looked at him confused, a bit overwhelmed by the weird feeling of comfort when his hands found mine. "R-Remember what?"

His shoulder slumped, and he sighed removing his hands from mine.

"Nothing" he said, but he wasn't smiling anymore. He looked more broken than anything, and that confused me.

What was I supposed to remember? I don't remember meeting him before, but maybe I had, maybe we studied together or something like that. Was it something important?

"How...how's Paige?" he asked again.

"Do you know her?" I asked.

Jefferson sort of smiled, but it was more a sad smile than anything.

"Yeah, I do" he said.

I looked at him curiously, but sighed. "She's...sad." I sighed, "The poor girl, she's only 10, and she'd already lost her father. And Mrs. Grace, the poor woman, she lost her husband. Now she's alone with Paige...always missing her husband..." my voice sounded distracted now, as my view was focused on the wall behind Jefferson. As I said that, I felt weird again, like if that should mean something for me. Then, I snapped back to realty "That's horrible, isn't it?"

But Jefferson was looking at the table. Suddenly, he raised form the seat and stormed away from here. Leaving me looking at where he had go with wide and confused eyes.

_Had...Had I said something wrong? _

Ruby came forwards, bringing me the toast I had ordered, but she was glancing at the door with confused eyes.

"What was that?" she asked.

"No idea" I said.

She turned and looked at me.

"Who's that?"

I shrugged again. "I have no idea"


	5. Chapter 5

**Luchi: Glad you loved it! =D **

* * *

**Chapter 5 **

After Mr. Grace funeral, I was walking with Paige in town. Mrs. Grace was taking care of a few things, so I offered to watch over Paige. The poor girl was clinging to my arm like it was a matter of life or dead situation. Tears poured out of her eyes.

I didn't knew what to say to her.

So I didn't. I just comforted her with hugs.

After a while, we both sat on a bench close to the cemetery.

"River..." Paige stopped herself.

"Yes, sweetie?" I said softly.

"Promise me you won't leave me" she said, her voice breaking.

I blinked, feeling my heart breaking. "Oh, sweetie..."

She started to cry again.

"My daddy left me" she sobbed. "My mommy don't have time for me. You're the only person that's always with me. Please. Promise me you'll always be with me"

I was looking at her with pain. I never knew she felt that way about me or about her mother. It was kinda true. Mrs. Grace was a good mother, for what I knew, but she was always working. So Paige spent most of her time with me. But still...I never knew she felt that way.

"I promise" I said firmly. "I promise you I'll always be with you"

She hugged me and cried on my shoulder. "I'm gonna miss him so much, River" she sobbed. "My daddy..."

I draw circles in her back while she cried on my shoulder. "Everything's gonna be okay, sweetie" I promised.

"I'm never gonna see him again!" she cried. "Everything's not gonna be okay! River! He was my daddy! What am I gonna do without him!?"

I felt tears dropping out of my eyes, and I cleaned them surprised. I felt a Deja Vu as she said those words and I hugged her, but I ignored it. Paige needed me. That's what mattered to me now.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jefferson looking at us wide eyed, pain clear on his eyes. I looked at him, but turned back to Paige when she cringed to me harder.

Mrs. Grace them returned and stopped when she saw us hugging and crying. She broke down and started to cry too, but this time she actually came forwards and separated Paige and I.

Paige hugged her mother tightly, leaving me watching with pain as they went away without saying goodbye. I blinked my tears and raised from the bench.

I made my way towards Jefferson slowly. He was looking at Paige with pain, but turned immediately when I was at his side.

"Hi" I said softly, wiping away my tears. But they kept falling.

"Hi" he said softly too, looking to the floor ashamed. "I'm sorry for earlier..."

"It's okay" I said.

It had been weird, but it was okay. He must have had his own reason to have stormed away from me like that.

Suddenly, I don't know why, he looked at me and gave me a sad smile. Then, I broke down crying. I tried to wipe them away, but a sob scape my throat, and before I could knew it, Jefferson was hugging me.

Everything just crumbled down at that moment. I cried for Paige. For the sadness that kept me awake at nights. For Jefferson's sad smile...I don't know. I just know I broke down crying. And Jefferson held me on his arms, hugging me and saying sweet nothings on my ear. I tried to ignore the feeling of familiarity that I felt when I was on his arms.

When I calmed down, I looked at Jefferson.

"I'm sorry" I said, feeling a blush coming on. I had just cried in front of a stranger. "I don't know what happened to me"

He smiled at me sadly. "It's okay"

"No. Seriously. I didn't really knew Mr. Grace that well...it's just that...Paige and..." I shrugged, sighing. "I don't know what happened, honestly"

I was starting to get seriously worried. Was I suffering from bipolarity? My mood changes were...pretty weird.

He just looked at me, still that look of sadness on his blue eyes, and he caressed my cheek.

I blushed hotter this time. I was the type of woman that considered that sort of things—like a caress on the cheek or a kiss on the cheek or things like that—to be a bit personal. But yet, I liked it.

"I feel like I'm going mad" I said more to myself than to Jefferson, but he still heard me. He arched an eyebrow at me, but I just shrugged it off.

"I-I have to go" I said, wide eyed, and turned around. Leaving as soon as I could.

...

Later that night, I was walking home when I saw Mary Margaret and Emma talking. I considered stoping and saying 'hi' to them, but I was too tired.

I couldn't evade them, though, Mary Margaret saw me and smiled at me. I smiled back slowly, and made my way toward them.

"Hey" I said when I was at their side.

I watched them both. Mary looked tired, and Emma looked like shit.

"Is everything alright...?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

"Bad date" explained Mary Margaret.

I frowned. "Tell me at least he paid"

Emma and Mary Margaret chuckled. I raised an eyebrow at them.

"I asked her the same" elaborated Emma.

I raised my eyebrows surprised. "Oh..." I smiled softly at Emma.

"You look like shit" I told her. "No offence, though"

She actually laughed. "Well, crashing in my car isn't comfortable, you know?"

I frowned. "You're...sleeping here?" I looked at the small car, "Why?"

"She decided to stay" told me Mary Margaret grinning.

I looked at Emma. "For Henry" I said, slowly smiling widely.

She seemed uncomfortable, but nodded.

There was a silent moment.

"You know, if things get to cramped...I have plenty of space on my apartment" I said slowly. It was true. I had a room that I always used as a place to put old things that I didn't used. But with a good clean, Emma could actually sleep there. If she wanted to. Though I wasn't sure why I asked her too. I didn't even knew her well.

Emma looked at me half surprised, while Mary smiled while saying that she had offered the same on her apartment.

"Thanks" said Emma at last, "But I'm not...I'm not the roommate type"

We were in silence a few seconds.

"Okay" I said softly. "I-Uh, see you later, then"

Mary nodded. "Good night."

"Good luck with Henry" Mary and I said.

Emma nodded, and Mary and I walked away together.

"So, who was the lucky guy that had a date with you?" I asked, half smirking.

Mary Margaret sighed. "Dr. Whale"

I stopped on my tracks, making her look at me confused. "You and Doctor Whale..."

"No!" I said quickly, hiding a blush. "No. I was just surprised, I never knew you liked him" He liked Ruby. At least I knew that.

"I-I don't" said Mary.

I looked at her. "Okay"

There was a silent moment. "You know, I'm taking the kids to the hospital tomorrow" she said. "We all volunteered to help. You should come with us"

I considered it. Probably Paige wouldn't be there, since she had only buried her father this morning, but Henry would certainly be there. And I missed him. "I will"

She smiled at me, and I smiled back. I liked Mary Margaret Blanchard, I decided.

We separated shortly after, she entering her apartment while I entered mine.

With a sight, I replayed everything that had happened today. From my morning with Ruby. Jefferson's weird attitude in the morning. My promise to Paige. Jefferson comforting me. My short but nice conversation with Emma and Mary Margaret...All those things had happened on the same day.

I was tired. I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

* * *

Two days after that night, Emma, Henry and I were sitting on a table at Granny's, eating breakfast. Henry was eagerly waiting for Mary Margaret to came here.

Emma quickly filled me in before I took Henry there. She had planned on playing along with Henry's obsession while Mary read to a John Doe at the hospital. He said the John Doe was Prince Charming. And Mary Margaret was Snow White, so he wanted her to read to him so he could maybe react and wake up or something like that. Emma and Mary had talked about it, and since obviously John Doe wouldn't magically wake up from a coma after hearing Mary's voice, they hoped Henry would see that it was just a book. That they weren't Snow White and Prince Charming.

I kinda liked Emma's plan. Making Henry see reality without hurting him.

So. After a couple of minutes, I found myself immerse on a conversation with Henry while Emma watched around the restaurant.

"How's Paige?" asked Henry softly.

I looked at him. I had always thought he had a crush on Paige, so I found sweet that he asked about her.

"She's..." I stopped myself. I hadn't seen her today, so I didn't knew.

Henry reached over and took my hand. I looked at him.

"Don't be sad. He wasn't Paige's real father" he said.

"I know, sweetie" I said.

Paige was adopted. Mrs and Ms. Grace were her adoptive parents, but still...they'd had have her since she was a baby, so it was almost like they were her real parents.

"No" he shook his head, like if he had read my mind. "Not like that. She's your daughter"

I chocked on air, while Emma coughed, having choke on her drink.

We both looked at each other. I saw the silent question in her eyes. I shook my head at her.

"Sweetie..." I said looking at Henry softly. "I'm not Paige's mom. I'm her nanny"

He shook his head hard. "You're her nanny here, but you're really her mother"

I knew I obviously wasn't, because I would remember if I had a ten year old daughter, but I couldn't help but think of my past. I got afraid when I didn't remember anything.

It was like a blur.

But then, as soon as I started to worry, I remembered a few things. One of them being the fact that I didn't had a boyfriend ten years ago. So no. I wasn't Paige's mom.

"So you deduced who I am" I said instead of saying anything else.

He grinned proudly at me. "Yes"

Emma looked at me.

"Who I am, then?" I asked, eager to know who he thought I was.

"You're Rosalie" he said like it should have been obvious.

I could hear a cricket in the distance.

"Uh...and who exactly is Rosalie?" I asked.

"Rosalie" he said, like it should have been obvious. But it wasn't.

Who the hell was Rosalie?

"I've never heard of her" said Emma.

"She's Rumplestiltskin daughter" Henry told us.

I frowned. I had read Henry's book, but I never quite liked Rumplestiltskin story. It was sad. His wife left him for a pirate, and then Belle died...I never quite read his daughter history, thought.

Emma blinked. She probably was thinking about Shrek's version of Rumple. "And she is...his daughter"

"Yep" said Henry smiling widely. "Oh, oh, River! Remember how you said you would have liked to have a love story just like Snow White's and Prince Charming's?"

I blushed when Emma looked at me. I nodded at Henry, still feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Well you do have one!" he said excitedly.

I widened my eyes. "Really? But wait, how did you found out I was Rosalie?" I looked at him curiously. Emma looked at Henry, too. He just shrugged.

"It was kind of obvious. You look like her, and Paige looks like you and Mad Hatter. So yeah, you must be Rosalie. Paige must be Grace. And Mad Hatter...I still don't know who he is here, though"

I blinked.

"Mad Hatter?" Emma and I both asked. "From Alice in Wonderland?"

"His name is Jefferson" Henry said.

I chocked on air. Jefferson like...Jefferson? From here? Ugh, if I told Henry that I know someone here that's called that, he probably would think it is him.

"Jefferson?" I asked, wanting to know if i heard correctly.

"Yes?" a voice behind us asked.

We three jumped, while I turned around and saw Jefferson there, smiling softly at me. Black clothes and a light blue scarf around his neck.

"Oh" I blushed. "Hi"

He chuckled at me. "Hello, River"

Henry grinned widely, "Jefferson?" he said, looking at me.

Jefferson looked at Henry, nodding when he heard his name. "Hi"

Henry looked at me, still grinning widely, and pointed at Jefferson. Thank God, he didn't noticed, he was busy looking at Emma. She smiled politely at him.

"So, Jefferson, do you like hats?" asked Henry suddenly.

Jefferson laughed, while I sighed rolling my eyes. I knew it, Henry probably think now that he is the Mad Hatter.

"Yes, kid, I like hats" said Jefferson softly, smiling at Henry.

Henry grinned and looked at me like saying 'See?'. I shook my head at him. 'Don't even start, kid'.

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to River. Do you thing I could borrow her for a while?" Jefferson said looking at Henry.

He grinned widely. "Of course!" he got up and practically pushed me against Jefferson. "Have fun!"

Emma chuckled at Henry's actions, while I rolled my eyes, but took my things and I followed Jefferson outside. We were in silence for a couple of minutes, in were we started to walk together, without a certain direction. The silence however, wasn't awkward. It was nice, actually.

I didn't know what about he wanted to talk to me, but I didn't cared, I liked being with him like that. No talking, just being together.

I started to think about what Henry said about Rosalie, Jefferson and Grace. In Henry's mind I could understand he though Paige was my daughter. I was nearly always with her, and we kinda looked alike. We had the same hair, though her was a bit more dark than mine. And she had my brown eyes.

And Jefferson's smile.

I shook my head at that thought. I definitely shouldn't be thinking about that. I was spending too much time with Henry.

...

Regina passed us by. She stopped in her tracks, and turned to us wide eyed. I smiled politely at her, but I see out of the corner of my eye, Jefferson gritting his teeth.

"Ms. Black" Regina said. "River...I see you've met Jefferson"

I nodded slowly. "How are you today, Regina?"

She actually smiled at me, but when she looked at Jefferson, she was giving him a smirk. "Pretty good, actually"

I smiled nodding. "Good. Eh, see you later, then? I have to go" I didn't had to, but the politely in our conversation was making me want to throw up.

"Sure thing" she said.

She turned around and continued walking. I let put a breath I didn't know I was holding. Before Jefferson and I could move, Regina turned around and looked at me curiously.

"River, can you do me a favour?" she asked.

I sighed. What was with people asking me favours?

I nodded slowly. She came forwards to me, searching for something on her purse, and then she handed me a key. "Since you're going to my house later, I though maybe you could go to my office and help me with some boxes that need moving."

"Uh. Alright" I said uncertainly. I didn't wanted to, but I didn't know how to say no. "Okay"

She grinned. "Perfect. Thank you"

With that, she turned and leaved.

I glanced back at Jefferson, but he was busy looking at where Regina had been with a frown on his face. He looked down at me and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I have to go" I said.

There was silent moment. "I can go with you...if you'd like too"

I looked at him surprised. I felt relieved. Though, I would never admit it out loud, but Regina's office creeped me out. Maybe it was because I found her making out with Graham there...I shuddered, but nodded in Jefferson's direction. "Sure thing, let's go"

...

At Regina's office, I groaned when I saw all these boxes.

"She said they were one of two" I groaned.

"Never listen to her" said Jefferson.

I turned surprised at his bitter tone of voice. "Okay...Just...let's get this over with"

Jefferson helped me carry the boxes to my car—which was thankfully close to Regina's apartment—and when we were finished, we walked town again.

It was kind of weird the situation. Having Jefferson's company, a strangers company, was kind of comforting. I liked to walk with him, not saying anything...just...being there with him.

That felt right.

So I enjoyed those minutes. As weird as it would sound.

...

Jefferson and I stopped in front of my apartment door a couple of minutes later.

"Thanks for making me company" I said to him smiling softly.

He nodded to me.

"And you know...hugging me and all that when I cried on Mr. Grace funeral..." I smiled to the floor awkwardly.

"You're very welcome, River" I looked up and saw him smiling softy at me.

I smiled up to him. "So...se you later, I guess"

He nodded to me. "Bye" he said softly.

I turned and put my hand on the doorknob when Jefferson talked again.

"Wait...River?"

I turned back and looked at him. He was looking at the floor. He seemed to be debating over what to say or do.

"Yes?" I asked, giving him an encouraging smile.

He took a deep breath, and his whole character changed, he suddenly looked more calm and more full of himself. Wow. And I thought I was bipolar.

"Are you free tomorrow night?"

I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times. I felt my cheeks got red again. "Are you...asking me out on a date?"

"Yeah, I am" he said. "So, are you free?"

"Oh" My face broke into a shy smile.

It had been quite a long time since I'd had a proper date. I'd always messed up my dates. I never knew how to act or talk or even look. I was just an awkward little thing when it was about dates. But still...Jefferson's blue eyes were soft and calming. His intentions were nice, I guess, because he actually looked a bit nervous about my silence. And he had comforted me when I cried...and I liked his company. So, why not?

I found myself smiling softly. "Yes, I'm free"

His face broke into a smile too. "See you at Granny's at eight?"

"Sounds good to me" I said, still grinning like a teenager.

He chuckled to himself. "See you there" He nodded to me, and turned to go.

As I watched him go, I sighed resting my head against the door. My heart was racing on my chest, and my cheeks were a bit red. I was surprised to realise I was nervous too.

I turned back and went to open the door, but I heard Jefferson chuckling again, waiting for the elevator to open, and I could have sworn I heard him mutter to himself something that sounded like: "I can't believe I was nervous about asking my _wife_ on a date"

I froze.

"What?" I turned to Jefferson, but the elevator door's were closing, so he couldn't answer me.

_What. Was. That? _


End file.
